What Are We Waiting For?

I mentioned in an earlier post that those of us who are in the free worship tradition¹ don’t often do much with the season of Advent.² That isn’t true across the board; individual congregations are free to observe Advent or not. Some do and some don’t. So the level of knowledge about and experience with Advent varies greatly.

Simply put, the season of [tag]Advent[/tag] is a time of waiting. Israel waited a long time for the birth of Messiah and Advent re-creates that time of waiting. It is a time of preparation and introspection when followers of Christ examine their lives in light of His coming. It is a time of penitence, much like the season of Lent leading up to Easter.

So the question might be asked: If Christ has already been born, what are waiting for? We are waiting for two events. One, we are waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We aren’t waiting on the birth, but we’re waiting to celebrate it. So we use this time to remember³ what it must have been like to hear over and over that Messiah is coming, which meant He was not yet here. This idea is a little hard for twenty-first century Christians to grasp on to.

The second event we’re waiting for—and this should be a little easier for Christians today to understand—is the return, the second advent, of Christ. We wait with eager anticipation for Christ to return. The eagerness with which we wait for Christ today is the same eagerness with which Israel waited for Christ.

There is a song on Sovereign Grace Music’s new [tag]Christmas[/tag] CD Savior⁴ that captures this idea well. “Rejoice,” written by Todd Twining, encourages the church to rejoice, “for your King returns on a white horse wearing a crown.” And here’s the great hope we’re waiting for:

Then the dead will rise from the land and sea
All His people will ascend
We will reign with Him for eternity
Rejoice, all the church, rejoice

The season of Advent can have great meaning for Christians. While others are focusing on material things and finding a parking place at the local mall and running from Christmas party to Christmas party,⁵ we can focus on the grace of God and the true gift of His Son. And we can echo John’s encouragement:

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we will see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.⁶

1. Traditions that don’t use set liturgies from week to week. Catholics and Episcopalians are a couple of examples of traditions that do use a set liturgy. [back]
2. The word adventus literally means “coming.” [back]
3. Well, we don’t technically remember. We can only recount what Scripture tells us things were like while Israel waited for their Messiah. [back]
4. See my review here. [back]
5. I’m not saying giving gifts is a bad thing. But, it doesn’t need to consume us. [back]
6. 1 John 3:2-3 ESV [back]